time and time again
by the selwyn contracantos
Summary: They will always be together; no matter when or where. [AU ficlets]
1. I: banana pancakes

**I: banana pancakes**

**Characters:** Cana, Lucy, Levy, Gildarts, [brief mentions of] Mira, Erza and Gajeel

**AN: **Enjoy! Hopefully this one - shot collection will go better than **trip, fall, twist...** c:

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><p>"OMIGOSH, TODAY has just been moving <em>sooooo <em>slow, I swear," complained a pretty blonde leaning over the front counter of Erza's Bakery.

"It has," agreed another voice. It was a lazier - sounding voice than that of the previous girl's.

"C'mon, guys, don't relax just yet." A third voice chimed in, prompting them to keep working. "We still have a half - an- hour 'till closing time, you know."

"Aw, Levy! You weren't supposed to remind us!" said the blonde. The second voice, which belonged to a curvy, almond - eyed brunette, sighed. "She's right though, Lucy. We have work to get done."

"Shut up, Cana."

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"Who's telling my daughter to shut up?" demanded a loud, booming voice. All three women turned to face a tall, dark - haired man. "Gildarts!" they exclaimed all at once.

"What are you doing here, old man?" Cana asked in a lazily curious voice. "Have you come to hit on my friends, eh?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Maybe, maybe not." They all laughed at his antics. "Actually, I'm here to pick up a cake for a friend of mine."

"Who?" questioned Lucy, twirling a pigtail.

"Ah, I think it was Macao. His son, Romeo - he's a freshman at your high school, come to think of it - it's his birthday. But Macao's feeling a bit under the weather, so I told him I'd pick it up on my way home from work." Lucy nodded, then turned on her heel. "It's back in the freezer. I'll get it," she promised.

Levy wiped a rag across the counter. "Where's Erza?" Gildarts inquired.

"She went to cater a party for a friend. She left Mira in charge, but Mira's on a date with Freed, so technically, for the moment, Levy here is in charge."

Levy blushed. "I - I'm not really _in charge, _just...keeping an eye on things. And stuff." Gildarts chuckled. "Always been more responsible than my Cana, ain't you?"

Lucy swept back into the room with a flourish. "She's been more responsible than me, Cana and Mira combined for _years. _Only person who might be more responsible than Levy is Erza."

Gildarts chortled in agreement. "That's true." He sighed, pushing himself off of the counter. "Should get back to Macao with this cake, or he'll have my hide," he said, scooping the cake up in his arms. "See ya, Pops," Cana muttered. He ruffled her wavy hair. "See ya, kiddo." He pushed the bakery door open and strolled outside. "And stay outta the bar!" she hollered at his retreating figure.

Lucy giggled as Levy threw her cleaning rag into the sink. They bantered for a few moments, pushing and shoving each other playfully. Once their laughter died down, they realized that it was almost time to close up.

"Suppose we should lock up, eh?"

"Yeah, we should sweep, too. Make it look like we've actually done something today." All three of them snorted.

All of a sudden, the cafe door opened. The little bell that Mira had received through the mail had yet to be installed, so as a result, they didn't notice that someone was standing in the doorway, dripping with rainwater. (The weather had significantly worsened after Gildarts had left.)

So they continued laughing and picking up garbage obliviously until the visitor cleared his throat.

Levy whirled, eyes wide. "Ah! Guys!" Cana and Lucy turned around and sucked in a breath. "Oh, my gosh!" they exclaimed at the same time. Levy swallowed. "Ah, I'm really sorry, but the cafe's closed right now, sir." The guy grunted and stepped forward, pulling his hood down. By doing this, he released an abundance of dark, wavy hair that looked like it had taken _years _to grow. Piercings decorated his otherwise normal face.

"That's fine. I just thought - well, I saw - you guys have a 'help wanted' sign in the window, so…" he trailed off, eyes unreadable. Levy placed a hand on her hip. "Can I ask for a resume?" He handed her a folded sheet of paper that had water sploshes on it as a result of the rain. She grabbed onto it firmly, flipping it open.

Her large, dark eyes scanned the paper; eyebrows furrowing above her red - rimmed glasses.

"You've worked in a lot of famous pastry places," she commented.

"Yeah."

"Well." She re - folded it and handed it to Lucy. "I'll talk to my boss and see what she says, but I'm fairly confident that you already have the job. She'll be extremely impressed."

His lips twitched. "Yer pretty wordy fer a waitress, ya know." A brilliant plume of red unfurled across her cheeks. "I _am _still educated, however small this town may be." He gave a light chuckle. "I wouldn't call Magnolia Charter a source o' education, Blue."

Her tiny hands curled into fists. "Pleasure meeting you, Mr…?"

"For the moment, you can call me..._Kurogane."_

And then, he was gone.

Lucy was the first to comment. "That guy was weird."

"True that," Cana muttered.

Levy's balled fists relaxed. "Kurogane, huh. Kind of familiar - sounding." Cana shrugged. "Whatever. Maybe he's a super - popular baker that's undercover from the paparazzi?" suggested Lucy.

They all snickered. "Yeah, right, Luce…"

Levy hoped Erza would give him the job.

For reasons of her own.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Fufufufufu!

****Note: **All chapter titles for this story are taken from albums by Jack Johnson. No copyright intended. (I've always wanted to say that c:)


	2. II: situations

**II: situations**

**Characters: **Lucy, Levy, Gajeel and [brief mention of] Mira

**AN: **I really liked this idea/theme, and I'm glad that I changed my mind and had Gajeel as the music teacher - I originally had him down as either the third - grade math teacher or one of the PE teachers (Natsu and Gray were the other ones). In case you're wondering, Erza was cast as the lunch lady, with Cana and Juvia to help her out. Mira was listed as the nurse. Wendy was her assistant. Unfortunately, they had to be cut because it would have been too long. Sorry :( You can commence your reading now.

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><p>"HEY, LEVY, want some coffee? I just brewed a new pot. Oh, and Mira brought in some donuts, too," said a curvy blonde from behind the office desk.<p>

"That sounds great, Luce. I'm _starved. _Haven't had time to go grocery shopping. Just barely managed to make it it on time today." A short, wavy - haired woman plunked her purse down next. She looked to be fairly young - in her early twenties or so. The same could be said about her blonde companion.

They both worked at Magnolia Elementary as school secretaries. They filed information, kept track of attendance, etc. They were like the human databases.

...well, not Lucy. Lucy had pretty much only taken the job for three reasons:

to get paid

to find a boyfriend

and to work with her best friend, Levy McGarden.

To put it simply, Lucy was _lazy. _So the only human database there was in the office was really...Levy.

Not to say that Lucy wasn't smart - she most definitely was. But laziness was not an attribute that was conducive to work (in case you weren't aware). She was perfectly content to flirt with every single guy in the building - and get paid to do it.

Levy filled her coffee cup thoughtfully, reflecting back on the novel she'd finished the night before. It had been about a guy falling for a girl he couldn't have. In the end, she'd left him in the dust for a rich jerk. Levy had closed it with a violently disappointed _snap _and threw it across the room. She winced as she screwed the lid onto the cup. Probably _not _her best course of action.

She turned round, ready to step out of the teacher's lounge and back into the office - only to run into someone and spill her hot coffee _everywhere._

"Oh, my gosh - ! I am so sorry!"

She looked up to see none other than the infamous music teacher himself, Gajeel Redfox. She'd never met him in person, only heard others praise his teaching techniques.

His mouth opened, and the first thing he did was mutter a string of expletives. "That _hurt," _he hissed through gritted teeth. "Haven't even known ya thirty seconds and you're already tryin' to kill me, shorty?" SHe blinked, taken aback by his tone of familiarity. "No, I - I'm really sorry! Honest!" He grunted, hands grasping for the napkins. His hands bumped the donut box, causing it to topple precariously. Levy dove for it, in turn knocking Gajeel to the ground. She landed on his chest, donuts gripped firmly in hand like a rare animal. His eyes - which she had previously assumed were a rich brown like hers - stared up at her, allowing her to see that they were, in actuality, a dark crimson. "Uh…."

Lucy skidded in just then, eyes wide. "I heard a yell. Is everyone - " She stopped halfway through her sentence. "Oh." Then she grinned sneakily. "Wow, Lev. Way to boyfriend - hunt super skillfully." Levy blushed. "Shut up, Lucy, and help us," she responded tartly. Lucy snickered and helped Levy clamber off of poor Gajeel (who was currently rather bewildered at their banter) and back onto her feet. They both leaned down and offered Gajeel a hand, but he waved them away. "I can get up on my own," he snapped. "Yer lucky I just happen to have a spare shirt with me, kid." His brow furrowed. "I thought students weren't allowed in the teacher's lounge." Levy's mouth pressed into a firm line. "I'm not a student," she said icily. He brushed off his dress slacks. "Then what the heck are you, huh?" She glared up at him over her baby - blue rimmed glasses. "I'm a secretary." He snorted. "Yer an office lady?" Her eye twitched. "Don't you have a class to teach, Mr. Redfox? I'm pretty sure that's what they're paying you for, after all."

"What's it to you?"

"I'm simply asking," she said, struggling to keep her facade of calm. "You shouldn't get so worked up over such a small thing, you know," she quips carelessly. His jaw tenses. "Don't flatter yerself. Not too many people get too worked up over small things," he spat before striding stoically out of the lounge.

She narrowed her eyes in anger, then turned on her heel. _Jerk. There's no _way _he's a good teacher._

"We have work to do, Luce. Let's go." They hurried back to their desks, Levy wallowing in angry silence.

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><p><em>What is this stuff, tar? <em>Gajeel scrubbed furiously at his shirt, attempting to get the stain out. Then he paused. _Might as well be, _he thought. _I've tasted it before, after all. SOmebody needs to teach Blondie how to make coffee, _he complained mentally.

Suddenly, his mind went to the short one. Her ferocity had surprised him. She didn't strike him as the kind to get so angry. He had seen her before, come to think of it - she'd passed his classroom once or twice. But she had seemed kind of shy then. He chuckled. Clearly, she had more feist than what meets the eye.

Huh.

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><p>The next day, Levy threw her purse down in her chair and went to go fill her coffee. As she reached for a lid, her fingers brushed a piece of paper. She glanced down to see a note laying next to the coffeepot.<p>

_You need to drink real coffee at least once in your life. _Below was a number and underneath that was a name. But she didn't need to read it to know who it was from.

She grinned. _Challenge accepted.  
><em>

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>I know it's greedy of me to ask for reviews, but...reviews? ;)


	3. III: sitting, waiting, wishing

**III: sitting, waiting, wishing**

**Characters: **Lucy, Natsu, Levy, Gajeel**  
><strong>

**AN: **This one has been swimming in my brain for quite a few days now, so I decided to throw it out there and see how many people it would reel in ;) No super - long notes this time, so...commence le reading of le new chappie. (In case you haven't noticed, this is my new catchphrase.)

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><p>LEVY COULDN'T help it. She hated watching Lucy flirt with Natsu endlessly, the two of them cuddling and giggling and sharing their silly secrets with each other. She would never admit it, but she felt like a third wheel.<p>

"Levy!" Lucy beckoned her best friend over with the wave of a hand. "Natsu and I are going out to the movies tonight." Levy raised both eyebrows. "Uh, okay? Why is that important again…?" Lucy beamed at her. "You're invited, too, Lev!" Levy frowned. "Um, but - why?" Natsu slid what he thought was a sneaky look towards Lucy.

(It wasn't.)

"Well," she began slowly. "Natsu has this friend, and - "

Levy started, eyes ablaze. "Absolutely not. There's no _way _I'm doing a double date with someone I don't know." Lucy guided her a few feet away to talk, leaving Natsu to his own devices. (Which is - and never has been - a good idea.) "Look. This guys is really pretty quiet, okay? All I'm asking of you is to meet him. It doesn't even have to be a date, Levy. I just worry about you, that you feel like the third wheel."

"What? Never."

"I know, but…" Lucy's eyes grew round and big, swelling with friendly concern. Levy couldn't tear her eyes away. "Okay, okay! _Fine. _But I won't like it."

Lucy shrugs, a twinkle in her gaze. "We'll see."

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><p>"She <em>said <em>to be here at six! Where _is _she?" Levy muttered, breath coming out in puffs. Her hands gripped her cell phone in impatience, trying not to snap it in half.

Suddenly, it buzzed. _You have one new message, _it read. She slid it open (she couldn't afford the fancy iPhones that all her other classmates had) and read the text. It was from Lucy.

_Hey - something came up. We can't make it. Sry g2g._

Levy snapped it shut, eyes blazing with frustration. _That is so like her! Well, if she thinks I'm still spending an entire movie with a stranger, she's in over her head._

Her dark eyes roamed all over the theater lobby, searching to see if there was anyone that she knew or would recognize.

_Nobody._

Sighing, she stuffed the phone back into her pocket and turned to leave when a voice stopped her.

"Hey! You, short one!"

She froze. Then she pivoted _veeery _slowly to see who was calling her. It was well - known to everyone that Levy hated nicknames based on physical attributes, so you can probably guess that she wasn't too happy to hear somebody call her this.

She found herself facing none other than Gajeel Redfox, who was known for being socially awkward. He was rather quiet, and as for his friendships, the only person she'd seen him around was...Natsu, actually.

...

_Oh.. _Everything quickly tumbled into place. Lucy wanted her to go out with _him? _That was worse than not knowing someone - she forgot that this guy even existed most days.

"Can I help you?" she asked, trying to keep her irritation in check.

"Um...sorry to, uh, call you so informally like that, but I couldn't, uh, remember yer name," he said hastily, as if attempting to avoid the confrontation about the moniker she hated.

Her eyes softened. "My name is Levy. Perhaps you've seen me around with Lucy Heartfilia? She's my best friend," she said. "Although, I'm her better half. Well - mannered and mild." He smirked. "Heard ya got a wicked temper, though."

She blushed. "I suppose."

He hesitated. "So, uh, Natsu said that he had a friend he wanted me to meet. I guess it was you…?" She winced. "Yeah, that would be me. Usually, I'm hugely against people setting me up on dates, but if it makes Lucy feel better, then whatever."

He shoved his fists into his jacket pockets. "Well, Natsu just texted me an' said he wasn't gonna be here. Typical," he grunted.

Levy heaved another heavy sigh. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

They laughed together for a moment, and then -

"You wanna grab a bite to eat? I don't feel like catching a movie." he asked suddenly.

She smiled. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind that. I'm not really into chick flicks."

"Really? I totally pegged you as a 'chick flick' kinda girl."

"Absolutely not! You know, Luce won't even spend the night anymore 'cause she knows we'll just watch horror movies..."

And so they hurried down the steps of the movie theater, both of them eager to get to know the other.

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><p>From behind a potted plant, Lucy and Natsu high - fived each other.<p>

Mischief managed.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Like my Harry Potter reference there? ;)

Reviews, _onegai?_


	4. IV: no other way

**IV: no other way**

**Characters: **Lucy, Natsu, Levy and Wendy. [along with brief mentions of Gray here and there.]

**AN: **Enjoy. Important stuff at bottom. :)

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><p>"I CANNOT believe I <em>failed <em>that math test!" exclaimed a girl as she mock - angrily stomped down the halls of Magnolia's prestigious charter school. "You know how good I am at everything, right, Lucy?" A girl with long blonde hair laughed. "Way to sound humble, Levy," she teased. Levy's shoulders slumped. "You know what I mean."

Lucy Heartfilia and Levy McGarden were both sophomores, fairly quiet and mostly obedient (at least, for their generation).

A ball of pink energy bounded up between them. "Luce, Luce, Luce! Guess what, guess what, guess what?!"

"Natsu! You scared us!" Lucy dramatically slapped a hand over her chest.

"I got an A on my geometry test! I win, I win, I win!"

"Win what?" Levy asked curiously.

"Oh," he said, finally taking notice of her, plodding along next to Lucy. "I made a bet with Gray that I wouldn't pass - and I _did!"_

Lucy smiled, rolling her eyes at him. "I told you that you would, and you didn't believe me! Goofball." Natsu beamed, his grin wide and bright.

"You passed a test?" rumbled a deep voice from behind them. They all pivoted to find Gajeel Redfox, geometry extraordinaire. "For your information, I _did, _actually."

"That's surprising."

"Hey!"

His scarlet eyes shifted from Natsu's puffed - up, angry cheeks to Levy's frustrated ones. "Hey," he greeted her. She sighed. "Hi," came her unusually glum response. His brows knit together. "Whassa matter, eh? Yer always so smiley, midget."

She glared at him over the rim of her glasses. "Tch. That's not my name. And if you must know, I failed a geometry test."

He stared at her, then burst out laughing, attracting the attention of Natsu and Lucy. "That's all? Ya failed a test?" Her cheeks burned. "Well - it's not like it's the - the - I just don't get all the theorems. I can do math just fine, I just - "

He grinned. "Meet me in the library at two - fifteen tomorrow. I'm tutoring geometry - deficient students."

"_I am _not _geometry deficient!" _she hollered at him from the top of her lungs. People were staring, but she didn't care. He infuriated her to no end. He never used her name and always poked fun at her height. She couldn't understand how he and Natsu were friends.

Whatever. She did _not _need tutoring of any kind - she could be considered an intellectual genius by most.

"See ya, Luce," she called out as she headed towards Chemistry.

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><p>"No, no! Ya gotta match the numbers up right so ya can make a proportion! Got it?" A small, big - eyed girl with long, dark (almost blue) hair wiggled in the chair next to Gajeel. "But I don't get it! Why do I have to figure it <em>oooout?" <em>she whined. Gajeel rubbed his temple. He had a dull headache - he could feel it lurking back there - and a sore throat. Of course, being much too stubborn to admit that he felt sick (_being sick is for sissies_, as he had once told Natsu and Gray); Pops sent him off to school anyways. And as a reward, he got to tutor a freshman. Who was smarter than him.

Exactly why was he tutoring her again? Sure, she was struggling a little bit, but the kid was fourteen and she had her Geometry _down. _So excuse him for being mildly irritable.

"Because that's what state law requires! Now quit moaning and pick up yer pencil."

Her bottom lip trembled. "All the other girls said that you were really mean, and I defended you, you know."

Silence.

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, it looks like they were _right_!"

"That's no way to talk to a tutor, Wendy," chimed in a new voice. They both turned to see who had interrupted their session and found Levy facing them, brows furrowed. "And honestly, Gajeel, couldn't you be a bit more...I don't know, gentle?" He grunted, eyes sliding away from her.

"What're you doing here?" he grumbled, scrubbing a hand across the back of his neck. She hung her red bookbag over a chair. "You said to come to tutoring with you at three - fifteen. So I did." Her eyes dared him to argue.

Huh. The little rascal had spunk. Who knew?

"Thought you din' like me."

"Well, there's no other way to get my Geometry grade up."

He said nothing.

_Point, Levy!_

"Sit down and get out anything ya got, then," he muttered. Suddenly, Wendy jumped. "Oh! sorry. My phone's vibrating." She unlocked it and proceeded to read the text she had received. Her eyes widened. "Uh...I've gotta go. My mom is waiting for me outside and stuff. We still have to pick up groceries and everything, so…" she threw her backpack over her shoulders. Before leaving, though, she stopped and turned to face Gajeel and Levy, sitting in their respective chairs.

"Um...thank you for taking the time to tutor me, Gajeel - san," she said hurriedly.

He waved her off. "Go home and watch some TV or somethin' kid. Don't spend your entire life jus' focusing on school, or you'll miss out." She blinked at him, surprised because of his kind words.

"Y - yeah." With that, she finally left, the glass door falling shut behind her.

Levy looked up from her Geometry textbook. "I had no idea you liked kids so much," she said. Avid curiosity was reflected in her gaze.

"I don't, really," he answered; not looking at her.

"Oh."

"So, what are you struggling with?"

"Um, well - it's always the postulates and theorems that mess me up. Like, with proofs, you know?" He nodded. "Proofs don't gotta be perfect, just acceptable. Make sure you're puttin' in a real effort, and you'll get the grade."

She twirled her pencil in her hand. "Okay. Can we do some together, just to...you know, practice?"

His lips twitched in amusement. "Maybe we should do Chemistry some time, too?"

Her cheeks reddened. "H - hey, that's not funny! You're teasing me!"

"You make it too easy, shorty."

"I most certainly do _not! _Can we do Geometry now?!"

He remembered thinking one thing: she was awfully pretty when she blushed.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>I liked this one a lot, fufufu. I know, some of you are wondering where all the other characters are, but don't worry, my friends - they will come in soon. It's just that I'm more accustomed to writing about Levy and Gajeel than anything else. Other characters _will _gradually come in. Or so I plan. And not all of these one - shots will be set in modern times. Just so you know. Come back next time, please! My hope is to finish the next chapter as soon as possible.


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